You Don't Always See (And All I Could Feel)
by kind-of-always-late
Summary: 1. Scott finds out Cosima is a clone, and 2. Cosima and Delphine fall into a sort of domesticity. (Two related Cophine vignettes originally posted on Tumblr)
1. You Don't Always See

"So, have you seen one?"

"Hm?" Cosima answered, quirking her head up from the screen.

"The clones. Have you seen any of them?" Scott whispered conspiratorially, eyes wide.

"Oh, yeah," Cosima replied with a sly smile, leaning back in her chair. "I've met a few."

"Really?!" Scott squeaked, the pitch of his voice climbing unnaturally high before dropping back to a whisper. "What are they like?"

"Hmmmm," Cosima began. "Well, they're pretty sexy, really."

"Ah, c'mon, Cosima. Stop messing with me," he whined. "I really want to know."

"I'm not! Seriously. They're hot. Here," she said, leaning back in her chair to get a better few of the desk across from hers. "Hey, Delphine! Scott wants to know if the clones are hot."

"That is not what I –"

Cosima silenced him with an exaggerated raise of her eyebrows. Scott sighed and tossed his hands up in exasperation.

Delphine simply tilted her head towards the two of them, pen not lifting from the page. She shrugged in feigned indifference.

"Hm, I suppose they are all right," she deadpanned, unable to hide a soft smirk. "But I think that some of them might overestimate their level of attractiveness."

"Well then," Cosima countered, "Always good to have your honest opinion, _Dr. Cormier_," she replied with a roguish grin.

_She is so going to pay for that later_, Cosima thought to herself as she twirled her pen between her fingers.

Scott's brow furrowed in confusion, his head cocked to one side.

"C'mon, Cosima," he implored her, "I've been working on this long enough. I get it if I can't actually see, like, a _live_ clone, but at least give me _something_ here."

Cosima glanced to Delphine and raised her eyebrows in silent inquiry.

Delphine bit her lip in response, tilting her head to one side before giving Cosima a subtle nod. Cosima beamed. Delphine returned quietly to her work, failing to conceal her own amused grin.

"Okay, Scott. That's fair," Cosima conceded, "I can't introduce you to any _live_ clones right now, but I can at least show you some pictures," she said, rifling through the papers on her desk in search of the files on Jennifer and Katja. She smirked, wondering how long it would take Scott to piece it together once he saw their faces.

She had to admit: things were decidedly more _fun_ with Scott around.

Just then, a window popped up on her monitor.

**Incoming Video Call – Felix Dawkins**

_Holy shit. No way. No fucking way, man, _she thought_. Score._

"Oh, one sec. I, uh, just have to pick this up real quick. Hold on."

"Sure," Scott replied, turning his attention to the papers he held.

Cosima cleared her throat and did her best to maintain a neutral expression as Sarah's face popped up on the screen.

"Hey, Cos. Can'ya chat?"

Cosima could feel Delphine's body stiffen even from across the room. She usually didn't speak with Sarah when she was around Delphine – she probably shouldn't be doing so now – but this opportunity was too perfect to pass up.

"Heeey, Sarah. I'm actually in the lab with Scott and Delphine right now." She said the last bit pointedly, not wanting Sarah to disclose any sensitive information. "What's up?"

"Ah, right then. D'ya want me to call ya back later? Alison's just here with me now. Wanted to check in with ya."

"Yeah, yeah. Of course. I'm good," she assured them. "How's Alison recovering from rehab?" she jested.

"Cosima Niehaus, that is not something I want you disclosing in the presence of your… _science friends_," Alison's voice shrilled over the speakers, the last few syllables peppered with distaste.

Alison stepped into the frame, looking less than pleased. She crossed her arms over herself in a huff.

Cosima heard the sharp _clack_ of a pen on the floor behind her.

"Woah," Scott breathed.

Cosima grinned, satisfied, but didn't turn around. She could hear Delphine's gentle chuckle from across the room.

"Relax, Alison," Sarah said, waving Alison off of the screen. "Listen, Cos, I'll just check in with ya later. Yeah?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Cosima replied. "See ya."

She minimized the window and spun to face Scott. His mouth gaped open wide, eyes bulging comically behind his spectacles. He regarded Cosima's face, dumbfounded.

"So," she grinned impishly, "You wanted to meet a clone?"


	2. And All I Could Feel Was The Wanting

"Bonsoir, Cosima."

Delphine sighed as she shut the apartment door behind her, walking past where Cosima sat at the kitchen table to deposit her purse and laptop onto the couch. Her days at DYAD were beginning to stretch into nights with an increasing and unwelcome frequency. It was becoming more and more common for Delphine to return home to find Cosima already on her couch, or at her table, or cross-legged on her floor, sundry papers and scientific journals scattered about her.

"Hey," Cosima responded, only briefly gazing up from one of the many articles on stem cells she had been poring over. And then, with a lazy wave of her hand, "I made tea."

Delphine answered her with an absent "hm," wearily pressing her palms into the small of her back.

_Peculiar_, she thought, as she made her way to the kitchen. This fragile semblance of domesticity into which they had somehow allowed themselves to slip. It felt _nice_, to come back to a home with Cosima in it. It felt _nice_, to see Cosima's things strewn haphazardly about the kitchen table, to have tea made or some vague attempt at _dinner_ set out on the counter. Strangely so. Even with all of its sleek white surfaces and sharp angles – stark chairs and sterile cabinets all supplied by DYAD – the tiny apartment felt pleasantly _warm_ with Cosima in it.

But Cosima wasn't truly _there_ with her. Not in the official sense of it. _Officially_ she had chosen to base herself at Felix's dusty loft instead of in one of DYAD's antiseptic apartments (even if lately that particular allegiance had been more _intention_ than follow through). Delphine had never _explicitly_ invited her to share her small space – Cosima's assertion that she would spend her nights on Felix's worn, lumpy couch had precluded the offer before it could push past Delphine's lips – but as of late most nights had seen the pair of them entangled beneath Delphine's bed sheets until the morning.

Delphine didn't question it. Only accepted it. Only chose to count it as a small victory in this grand, stupid war.

Because with Cosima here she could forget about _324B1_ and _I'm sick, Delphine _and _you cannot tell Cosima about this_. Here she could forget about the deception, or could at least tuck it neatly into the pocket of her lab coat and leave it hanging in a sterile DYAD hallway. The lying was for DYAD. She would leave it there, as best she could.

Cosima groaned, stretching herself out long and catlike.

"So I think that went well today," she smirked, tossing her pen aside.

"What did?" Delphine asked, nibbling on the crackers Cosima had left spilled over on the kitchen counter next to a half-cut block of cheese.

"You know," she grinned, "Coming out to Scott?"

"Ah, oui. You know I am surprised that he still chooses to associate himself with you," she teased with a smile.

"What? Because he found out I'm a clone?" Cosima asked with mock disbelief, rising from her chair to join Delphine in the kitchen.

"Why, I think that qualifies as discrimination, _Dr. Cormier_," she drawled as she snaked her hands around Delphine's waist from behind, "Against, like, the whole Clone Race. Or something. I should report the both of you to HR for harassment."

Delphine gasped, placing a hand exaggeratedly over her heart. She turned in Cosima's arms to face her.

"You wouldn't," she whispered, a playful gleam in her eye.

"Mmmm," Cosima hummed as she pressed her hips softly against Delphine's, pushing her back against the counter. "I could maybe be convinced otherwise."

Delphine giggled and spun back around, shoving Cosima away playfully. It was nice to have this, after so many heavy days at the lab. Cosima, laughing. Cosima, beaming. Cosima, alive.

"You know you could have been more tactful," Delphine teased, tossing a cracker at her, "I thought that he was going to faint."

"Aw, yeah. But this way was so much more _fun_," Cosima countered.

"As I said, it is a wonder he continues to hang around with you. You are lucky that you are very pretty."

"Hm, you think so?" Cosima hummed, tugging Delphine's hand until their bodies were nearly flush.

"Oui, c'est vrai," Delphine breathed, her eyes fluttering shut as she leaned down to brush her lips against Cosima's.

"Really?" Cosima smirked, pulling away before Delphine could make contact, "You don't think that I 'overestimate my level of attractiveness'?"

Delphine opened her eyes and was met with Cosima's gleaming mischievously back at her.

"Cheeky," she taunted, and bent her head back down to close the gap between them. She liked this. She liked herself like this. She liked that Cosima brought this out in her.

This time she was met with a hand rested lightly against her sternum.

"You know," Cosima husked, leaning in close to brush her lips against an earlobe. She slid her hands along Delphine's sides, finally stopping to trace small circles beside the juts of her hipbones. Delphine shivered, leaning in.

"I think it's time for me to go home," Cosima finished, pulling away from a breathless Delphine.

Delphine let out an exhale that bordered on a groan.

"Oh?" was all she managed.

"Mmm-hmm. I'm not feeling appreciated here." She dismissed her with a lofty wave of her hand. "You know Felix thinks I'm the hot clone? I think I'll head back to his place."

Delphine chuckled and followed Cosima into the small living space.

"You are going to sleep on Felix's couch, then?" Delphine asked with playful skepticism, crossing her arms over herself. "Did you not say that it was uncomfortable?"

Cosima simply shrugged, an amused smile tugging at her lips. She made no move to leave.

"He will be surprised, I think. More of your things are here than are at Felix's."

Cosima stiffened.

"Hm. Maybe," she conceded, biting her lip. The impish spark in her eyes had gone out, and a subtle darkness crept over the landscape of her features.

Delphine opened her mouth to say… _something_. She still hadn't quite landed on anything, but then Cosima twisted her mouth back into a smile.

"Are you saying you don't want me here?" Cosima asked, approaching her slowly, all coy grins and playful fingertips once again.

"I do not think that is at all what I said," Delphine replied, the corners of her mouth tipping just barely upward. Cosima was all teasing and games, all flashing grins and wandering fingertips, with only a whisper of that unsettling fragility that had begun to permeate her otherwise buoyant disposition.

Cosima stared at her. Quirked an eyebrow.

Delphine reached for her hand, delicately grasping at her fingertips.

"Cosima," Delphine pleaded softly, "Stay with me tonight?"

A wide grin bloomed across Cosima's face.

"Hmmm, that depends. I'm still kinda pissed at you for earlier," she said, threading her fingers through Delphine's and drawing her in. "You know I usually don't let people who insult my hotness get away with it so easily. Maybe I'll take your bed and you can have the couch tonight?" She lifted her eyebrows and smiled, tongue poking through her teeth.

"If that is what you want," Delphine said, shrugging. "Or…" she trailed off, offering a hesitant grin. "I could make it up to you?"

"Oh really?" Cosima sang, guiding Delphine's hands down lower, lower, until they cupped the curve of her ass. She stood up on her toes, nearly brushing their lips together. "And how exactly do you plan to do that?"

"Hm. I think we can… figure something out," Delphine breathed, smiling into Cosima's kiss.

Delphine melted into her. She felt herself twisting, burning, falling.

"Cosima, I –," she stopped herself, but the nascent syllables turned back on her to weave a soft, thrumming melody through her veins.

"What?" Cosima asked, regarding her skeptically.

"I, euh… I think Felix is right," she finished instead.

"Oh? About what?" she prodded, hooking her fingers into the loops of Delphine's jeans and tugging.

"You know," she breathed back.

"I think maybe I need to be reminded."

Delphine giggled as Cosima arched up, silencing her with a playful kiss.

"You are definitely the hot clone," she conceded, "But also the most exasperating."

"Hm, I'll take it," Cosima replied, nuzzling into her neck.

"Come to bed?" Delphine requested.

"Mmmm," Cosima hummed into her shoulder, and again the steady drum of those words crescendoed until they very nearly spilled from Delphine's lips. They rested on her tongue and she shifted them in her mouth, tasting their weight.

The foundation beneath them was far too precarious for any such admission, but for now she could at least crowd the words away with playful banter, could nudge them aside with the lobe of Cosima's ear between her teeth. Could shove them down quite easily with Cosima's tongue pushing past her lips, with the soft skin of her own wrists, with the frenzied gasps for air rushing down as hungry fingers pushed their way past flimsy fabric, pushing everything back, back, back.

_So going to pay for this later_, Delphine thought, and it was Cosima's voice that played the tune.

She could already feel it all slipping from them – this delicate haven they had crafted by some miraculous accident – and although she could see the futility of it all she still chose to cling stubbornly to these moments; to Cosima folded into her side, to Cosima's fingers skimming along the insides of her thighs, to the feel of Cosima's contented smile against her skin.

It was fragile, yes. But it was something. And for now that would have to be enough.


End file.
